(Newser)
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President Obama sought to reassure the public today that the White House has been on top of the oil spill from the get-go. Some early reaction to his news conference:

Brian Wingfield, Forbes: "The public outcry over the disaster has left the administration little choice but to take ownership of resolving it, but in doing so the White House has also boxed itself into a corner. For every day the disaster and the cleanup efforts continue, the administration is squarely on the hook. ... Until the leak is plugged, expect (public) outrage to grow in proportion to the amount of oil in the Gulf of Mexico." Also, watch those predictions. Remember "Mission Accomplished"?

Gus Lubin, Business Insider: Obama says it's been a priority from day one. "But here's the catch. For him to make that claim, Obama is forced to claim authority over the BP response from the start—saying he could have stepped in at any time. That means defending everything BP has done." This won't "go over well with a furious nation" or "Democrats in Congress who have pummeled BP."

Chris Cillizza, Washington Post: Obama argued that the US is in control on strategy but needs BP's technological expertise. "It's a nuanced argument to make and a distinction that Obama has to hope average Americans understand."

What could Obama have done "right" in this mess? If he jumped in and tried to fix it it would have been bigcommunist government takeover" and when he did not and just supported and conferred with BP as they tried to clean up the spill then he's sitting on his hands and doing nothing, fiddling while Rome burns, etc. Please, someone, tell me what he should have done and how he should clean up the oil that gushes out from a new hole like whack-a-mole every time BP tries to stop it. Or, what should BP do? Suggestions, all you experts? I know that the Republicans in Congress are working on a public bail out of BP. Is anyone paying attention?

bewilderbeast1

May 28, 2010 7:28 AM CDT

Here goes again: It ain't Repub or Dem. It's the fact that Big Oil (and all other Big Business) has WAY too much say and control in the world, and WAY too little oversight or accountability. In a real democracy, companies would be terrified of We the People's anger. They are not. They despise us. They KNOW that we will foot the bill. And even if BP has to re-invent itself as Creep-E it will not only survive, it will thrive (unless We the People mean what we say). The problem, put otherwise, is Repub AND Dem.